On September 24 at 16:00, Wang Zhong was opening a can of Prosen canned food in the headquarters bunker.
After opening the lid of the can, he stared at the contents for a long time and said, “Is this a pig’s trotter?”
Vasily picked up the can and looked at the text on it: “This is pickled pig’s knuckle, it seems to be a famous Prosen dish.”
Wang Zhong: “What a pity, no noodles, otherwise I could make a bowl of pig’s trotter noodle soup. How do you eat this thing?”
Vasily: “Cut it up and eat? I’m not too sure, my Prosen is pretty fluent, but that’s all because that old man forced me to learn, I haven’t really had much contact with Prosen things.”
Wang Zhong decided to cut a piece to try it out.
He poured the pig’s knuckle from the can onto a plate and picked up a knife and fork.
The skin of the trotter was hard, and it took Wang Zhong a long time to cut off a piece with the help of the fork, and when he chewed it, he immediately frowned.
This pig’s trotter is too salty! How can it be so salty!
No wonder it’s called a pickled pig’s knuckle!
He reached out and grabbed Nelly’s arm: “Water!”
Nelly quickly brought him a cup of water from the side.
Wang Zhong took a big gulp before letting out a long sigh of relief.
“What kind of dish would need such a salty pig’s trotter?” Wang Zhong asked Vasily, puzzled.
Vasily: “I don’t know, I told you I don’t have experience living in Prosen. That old man might know, he studied music there.”
Wang Zhong then turned his head to ask Nelly: “Do you know?”
Nelly: “I only know how to cook Ante dishes. But I heard the cook say that Prosen dishes are famously unpalatable, even the United Kingdom makes fun of them.”
If the United Kingdom was making fun of them, it must be quite bad indeed.
But before he crossed over, Wang Zhong and his dorm mates had been to a place called either “Scheidter” or perhaps “Fünfter” – for roasted pig’s knuckle and dark beer, which was quite delicious.
There were also German sausages, which weren’t bad either.
What’s up with this pickled pig’s knuckle?
Wang Zhong picked up the can and stared at the text, displaying an expression as if he was pondering a philosophical question.
Pavlov then mixed the cut pig’s knuckle and pickles and put it in his mouth: “Not bad. Just as well we opened so many cans of pickles for fake mines.”
Vasily clicked his tongue: “I always feel it’s going to be ineffective, after all, they launched the attack last time stepping on the lids.”
Finally, Wang Zhong put down the can and looked again at the pig’s trotter on the plate with a corner cut off.
Nelly: “Shall I make some sausage and cucumber soup? Maybe that’ll go well with it.”
Wang Zhong: “Yes, yes!”
Vasily: “Wait a minute, this seems to be a soup can, let me open it.”
He took the can opener, inserted it into the edge of the can, and then kept turning the knob of the can opener, using mechanical force to cut a circle around the can, just enough to cut open the lid.
Then the can opener had a special structure that clamped the lid, so when you pull the can opener out, it would bring the lid with it.
Vasily placed the opened can on the table.
Inside was a mush that seemed like a mix of green and yellow paint.
Wang Zhong looked at the contents and shared his impression: “Indian mush? We’re opening Prosen cans, not those of the United Kingdom, right?”
Vasily stirred in the can with a spoon, and the substance underneath came up.
Green peas, red carrots, possibly onions and meat, as well as a lot of yellow mush.
Wang Zhong: “What’s that yellow stuff?”
Vasily picked up the can, looked at the ingredients list: “Should be potatoes. The ingredients are peas, potatoes, onions, bacon, carrots, and cabbage.”
After reading, he looked into the can: “I guess this green should be the stewed cabbage, and the yellow is the potatoes.”
Wang Zhong stared at the mush in the can, which, due to the presence of green, didn’t quite look like human waste; conversely, without this hint of healthy green, it would resemble something from a person with digestive issues…
Vasily tasted a spoonful: “Hey, it’s quite tasty.”
Wang Zhong looked at Vasily: “You… have you developed a resistance from picking through dung?”
Vasily: “It really tastes good! Although I hate the Prosen education my dad— that old man— gave me, this is actually not bad.”
Wang Zhong, somewhat skeptical, picked up a spoon and scooped up a spoonful into his mouth.
Indeed, it tasted all right.
But speaking of flavor, it was entirely that of potatoes stewed with meat.
Wang Zhong: “I’d rather have potatoes stewed with beef.”
Just then, an explosion came from across the river.
Wang Zhong stood up, came to the observation window, and looked at the positions being bombed on the opposite bank, muttering, “Don’t they send someone over to scout before they bomb? We all pulled out.”
Vasily: “If they don’t bomb, they would encounter our buried mines; they probably plan to blast away the mines with artillery, then send in the infantry.”
“Makes sense.”
At that moment, Popov entered the bunker, “The captured Enigma machine seems to be usable, but the Judge tried decoding the transmissions afterward, and none of it made any sense. It must be that the enemy’s communication soldier scrambled the settings of the machine before being captured.”
Wang Zhong, “Have we received any garbled enemy telegrams?”
“We have been receiving them continuously, but we simply can’t decode them.” Popov spread his hands, “Now the Judge is trying to get the communication soldier to recall the machine’s settings before he scrambled them.”
Wang Zhong, “I hope he can remember. If we can find out what orders the enemy transmitted this morning, it might be somewhat beneficial to the war effort.
“The question is, when will he be able to recall.”
Vasily, “Do you think this guy will be tough to crack?”
Wang Zhong, “No, I think he might genuinely have forgotten this morning’s settings. After all, once the Enigma Machine is set, it can be used continuously until the other side changes the settings. Cryptographers have no need to remember the initial positions.”
Popov cursed, “The enemy has indeed come up with something troublesome.”
Wang Zhong, “Don’t worry, as long as we gather enough mathematicians, we will always be able to break the code.”
He changed the subject and asked, “How many prisoners of war have we captured in total?”
“One thousand one hundred,” answered Popov, “but the word on the streets is that we’ve captured eleven thousand prisoners. It’s also being said that you killed yet another general.”
Wang Zhong clicked his tongue, “I’m already used to it. I suspect it won’t be long before even more ridiculous stories emerge. So, these one thousand one-hundred prisoners are now at the depot awaiting transport? Have enough guards been assigned?”
“Of course.” Popov patted his chest, “I had the Judge set up machine guns on the platform at the depot, guaranteeing no one dares to make a move. However, speaking of which… these Prussian prisoners of war are very disciplined; they even maintain formation during escort.”
Wang Zhong, “This indicates that their confidence has not been crushed. They firmly believe the Empire will win and will be able to retrieve them so that they may return home in triumph. Don’t worry, their confidence won’t last much longer.”
As soon as Wang Zhong finished speaking, the sound of artillery fire outside changed, clearly beginning to extend shooting.
Vasily looked outside with the artillery periscope and said, “They must be preparing to attack now. Let’s see if the altered can lids and our modified mines will be effective.”
At that moment, the extending shooting reached the bunker and then gradually moved to the east bank, exploding into sprays of water.
Wang Zhong also observed from in front of the window, watching the barrage move toward their position and then past them.
The enemy’s intended “front line” was two kilometers away, totally outside Wang Zhong’s range of visibility, so he could only push Vasily aside and use the artillery periscope to look across the riverbank.
Through the artillery periscope, Wang Zhong saw the enemy’s tanks and infantry carefully approaching the position in mixed formations.
Then, to his surprise, they began firing machine guns and high-explosive shells at the deserted position!
Wang Zhong watched the enemy’s performance with relief.
Vasily complained at his side, “You’ve taken my spot; I can’t see anything!”
Wang Zhong, “Step aside, I’m enjoying the view!”
Just then, Wang Zhong saw someone step on a fake mine and then stop with a grim expression.
Unfortunately, even with the artillery periscope, he couldn’t get a close view, and could only see a rough outline.
He saw the Prussians scatter, and then someone who might be an officer came over, crouched beside the person who stepped on the mine, and took out a multipurpose knife.
At the same time, the enemy’s infantry line came to a halt, possibly having received the message that the mine did not explode.
Then the officer, with the multipurpose knife, dug out the mine, checked the firing mechanism, and cautiously extracted it—
Then both the person who had stepped on the mine and the officer trying to remove it flew into the air.
Wang Zhong patted Vasily’s shoulder, “Your trick mine got someone.”
Vasily, “Really? Are you just comforting me?”
Wang Zhong let him use the artillery periscope, “See for yourself.”
Vasily’s eyes lit up as he glued them to the periscope, “Oh, it looks like chaos. Hang on, are the enemies preparing to clear mines? This is just too funny. They never even noticed my fake mines last time, and just walked on by!”
Wang Zhong, “Bring the captured radio over! I want to broadcast a clear message! Tell them to watch out for the mines!”
Pavlov, “Isn’t that… a bit childish?”
Wang Zhong, “If it doesn’t work, I’ll stop doing it, but if it does, of course, I’ll do it more!”
————
“A broadcast message?” Giles frowned, “What did he say?”
The signal officer, “He said he’s planted a lot of ingeniously designed trick mines and hopes we’ll enjoy them.”
Giles’ frown deepened, and his aide, Feliz, started cursing, “What the hell! It’s like stepping on someone’s toes during a childish fight, utterly despicable and amateurish!”
Giles turned to the Chief of Staff, “Any reports of trick mines from our troops?”
“Yes,” the Chief of Staff answered gravely, “Over a dozen soldiers have already been killed by trick mines. They have deployed a new type of mine that isn’t triggered by pressure; it explodes when we attempt to disarm them.”
Giles, “How is that possible! Our military Science Academy tried to develop mines that wouldn’t detonate with pressure and all attempts failed! How did they manage it? The Ante Empire shouldn’t have such technology!”
At that very moment, nobody at the First Army Headquarters considered the fact that those pressure-insensitive mines completely lacked fuses; they wouldn’t explode even if you hit them with a hammer.
The Chief of Staff, “That’s just the report from the front line, which also states that the mines are mixed in with a large number of metal discs, making it very difficult to clear them.”
Giles, “Send in the engineers; they’ll handle it.”
The staff officers in the room exchanged glances.
In the end, all eyes fell on Feliz.
Feliz, “General, the majority of the engineers… have been captured by the enemy.”